likely catastrophic climate change implications of fossil fuel consumption, but in the decades that followed, Exxon chose to work “at the forefront of climate denial.”149 In October 2015, the Los Angeles Times reported that there is evidence that while Exxon “sought to downplay the certainty of global warming,” and Exxon and Imperial Oil were “closely studying the impact of climate change on the company’s operations.”150 In April 2016, the Center for International Environmental Law released hundreds of new documents. The leading non-profit organization suggests that the documents demonstrate that “the oil industry was explicitly warned of climate risks in the 1960s.”151 Further, the organization found that “much of this research was carried out as part of a broader industry effort—dating from the 1940s—to use industry-funded research to spur public skepticism of pollution science and environmental regulations.”152 With mounting evidence of Exxon’s early knowledge of the threats of climate change, a key question is what did the company do about it.153 Following the InsideClimate News and Los Angeles Times revelations, it became public on November 5, 2015 that the New York Attorney General had began investigating ExxonMobil (one of the named Respondents to this Petition) “to determine whether the company lied to the public about the threats of climate change or to investors about how such risks might hurt the oil business.”154 A few days later, the New York Attorney General’s Office !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 149 N. Banerjee, L. Song, and D. Hasemyer, Exxon: The Road Not Taken, InsideClimate News, Sept. 16, 2015, http://insideclimatenews.org/content/Exxon-The-Road-Not-Taken (last accessed on Apr. 19, 2016). 150 S. Jerving, K. Jennings, M.M. Hirsch, and S. Rust, Los Angles Times, What Exxon knew about the Earth’s melting Arctic, Oct. 9, 2015, http://graphics.latimes.com/exxon-arctic/ (last accessed on Apr. 19, 2016). 151 Center for International Environmental Law, Press Release, New Documents Reveal Oil Industry Knew of Climate Risks Decades Earlier Than Suspected; Suggest Coordinated Efforts to Foster Skepticism, Apr. 13, 2016, http://www.ciel.org/news/smoke-and-fumes/ (last accessed on Apr. 19, 2016); ); The source documents and useful analysis are available to the public online. See Center for International Environmental Law, Smoke and Fumes, https://www.smokeandfumes.org/#/ (last accessed on Apr. 19, 2016). 152 Id. 153 Id.; See New York Times, A Range of Opinions on Climate Change at ExxonMobil, New York Times, Nov. 6, 2015, http:// www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/11/06/ science/exxon-mobil-globalwarmingstatements-climate-change.html?_r=0 (last accessed on Apr. 19, 2016); Greenpeace USA, Exxon’s Climate Denial History: A Timeline, http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/global-warming/climatedeniers/exxons-climate-denial-history-a-timeline/ (last accessed on Apr. 19, 2016). 154 J. Gillis and C. Krauss, Exxon Mobil Investigated for Possible Climate Change Lies by New York Attorney General, New York Times , Nov. 5, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/06/science/exxonmobil-under-investigation-in-new-york-over-climate-statements.html (last accessed on Apr. 19, 2016). ! ! ! ! ! 56 !